I don't know about you, but I have never been very good about making new year's resolutions. Most of the popular ones, like losing weight, giving up coffee or quitting smoking – I've never really felt very strongly about.
One thing though that a new year does suggest is that we focus on the many things that remain the same... but also the many things that will change during the upcoming 12 months. As I reflect on the work ahead for your trade association, the work of protecting the pest control industry in California and being THE voice for the industry, YOUR voice, I thought about a couple of PCOC resolutions that are appropriate at this time:
MAINTAINING A STRONG ASSOCIATION – This includes growing the membership: doing everything possible to bring in new members and make sure we go the extra mile to make sure current members do not drop out. We also need to expand our non-dues income. It is essential that we maintain a strong revenue stream for the association so that we are not forced to go backwards.
HIRE A PROFESSIONAL MESSAGE – At no time in our industry's history has it been more critical to get the word out to the public and elected officials alike that hiring a professional for pest control is the responsible thing to do. From the environmental standpoint alone, it is critical that people know that with a highly regulated professional industry, usage of pesticides for the structural pest control industry has dropped by 51 percent over the past three years. PCOC's GreenPro program is the industry standard.
ADOPT A LEGISLATOR PROGRAM – Elected officials and bureaucrats, who have never written on the front of a paycheck, need to understand what it is like to operate a pest control company. 2011 will give us a great opportunity: there are 40 new legislators in Sacramento! Each one needs to understand the day-to-day frustrations that PCOC members feel. We will do this through breakfast and lunch meetings both in Sacramento and in the districts and also, by inviting elected officials to spend a day with a pest control professional.
We have some great and important work ahead.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!